PUEBLO — For a game of enormous size in terms of implications and attendance, a high school gym just wasn’t going to cut it. That’s why Pueblo South and Pueblo Central took to Massari Arena at Colorado State University-Pueblo for a heavyweight league showdown.
And it was behind Isiah Pannunzio’s 26 points that the Colts (10-0 overall, 2-0 4A South Central) cruised to a 79-51 win, solidifying their spot as a top team in the state.
“These kids have all grown up around each other and it’s a great rivalry,” South coach D.J. Johnson said. “Sometimes rivalries like this bring out the best in your team and sometimes the kids step up and play a little more inspired.”
And that certainly was the case. Coming into the game, Pueblo Central (7-7, 0-1) knew that in order to compete they had to take away South’s inside game. That proved to be easier said than done as Pannunzio dominated the post and got good support from Maleek Johnson who added 14 points in the winning effort.
“We knew coming in that we had to get the ball inside because they’re a small team,” Pannunzio said. “I just crashed the boards hard and had to post up hard to get the ball inside.”
The offense was never really the challenge for the Colts. Johnson knew that in order to come away with the win, he was going to have to figure out a way to limit the damage that Wildcat senior Mike Ranson could inflict.
Ranson came into the contest averaging 36 points per game and was more than capable of putting his team on his back and carrying them to a win.
“We talked about it for three or four days as a staff, figuring out how we wanted to approach him,” Johnson said. “He’s such a dynamic player and we came to the conclusion that the best way to defend him was to try and double-team him and get the ball out of his hands as much as we can.”
The plan paid off. Although Ranson came away with 26 points of his own, it was a very quiet 26. He only knocked down four 3-pointers and became visibly frustrated as his shots wouldn’t fall down.
“You have to run an offense and you have to do things to get other people involved,” Wildcats coach Brad Ranson said. “If he’s not hitting, we’re no good.”
The Wildcats came into the season with the highest of expectations, but suffered a crippling blow early with the loss of Kobi Betts to a torn ACL.
Since then, Central has been the victim of several more losses than they were anticipating. They thought they would be on the same level as the Colts who currently sit at No. 2 in the Class 4A CHSAANow.com basketball rankings.
“It’s been very frustrating,” Ranson said. “Like tonight, we should’ve played with them. They’re not much better than us. Tonight they were better and they just wanted it more than us.”
Ranson and the Wildcats will get another chance to show that they’re every bit as good as the Colts when the two teams square off again on Feb. 5.
Doherty boys basketball jumped into the 5A rankings this week. (Matt Daniels/MattDanPhoto.com)
Going into the final CHSAANow.com boys basketball rankings of 2015, the top teams from last week’s polls all remained in place.
And even though the top of the rankings look similar, new teams were added in all classes, giving some squads a momentum boost as the schools head into winter break.
In Class 5A, Overland came in as a unanimous choice at No. 1 fresh off winning the Tarkanian Classic in Las Vegas, Nev.
The top six teams from last week’s 5A poll all held their place as they are playing quality basketball heading into the break. It was Chatfield who made the biggest jump, going from No. 10 to No. 7, thanks in part to an overtime win against Palmer on Thursday.
An impressive looking Doherty team cracks the rankings this week after taking down Legend last week.
In 4A, the top teams are all playing high quality basketball. Longmont posted three impressive wins this week while Valor Christian won a nail-biter against Pueblo Central, surviving Mike Ranson’s 44-point performance.
Even with the loss, the Wildcats broke back into the rankings at No. 8.
Denver South and Mead were other two newcomers in 4A, coming in at No. 9 and No. 10, respectively.
Colorado Springs Christian remains at the top of the 3A poll. They didn’t see any official action last week, although they did compete at the City for Champions tournament at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs.
There were two new additions to the 3A rankings as The Pinnacle comes in at No. 8 and Denver School of Science and Tech – Green Valley Ranch breaks in at No. 10.
Sanford received every first-place vote this week to hold their position atop the 2A rankings.
A win and a close loss to Ignacio was good enough for the voters to make Center the lone newcomer to the 2A rankings as they grabbed the No. 10 position this week.
Like all other classes, there was not a chance at the top of the 1A rankings this week as Fleming still comes in at No. 1. Longmont Christian did make quite a splash as a newcomer. Unranked last week, the Warriors came in at No. 4, even snagging a first-place vote along the way.
Front Range Baptist also broke into the 1A poll as they jump in at No. 10.
The rankings, voted upon by coaches and select media members, are the official polls of the Association. During the regular season, they are released each Monday.
Legend 8, Dakota Ridge 4, Boulder 3, George Washington 2, Lakewood 2, Greeley West 1, FNE Warriors 1.
Dropped out
Legend (7).
Class 4A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
Longmont (10)
6-0
143
1
3-0
2
Valor Christian (3)
7-0
133
2
2-0
3
Pueblo South (2)
8-0
120
3
3-0
4
Lewis-Palmer
5-1
94
4
0-0
5
Pueblo West
7-1
89
5
0-0
6
Golden
3-3
47
7
0-2
7
Sand Creek
5-2
45
6
2-1
8
Pueblo Central
5-5
34
–
1-1
9
Denver South
6-3
29
–
2-0
10
Mead
5-3
21
–
2-1
Others receiving votes:
Conifer 17, Evergreen 16, Thomas Jefferson 12, Vista Ridge 7, Rifle 6, Windsor 6, D’Evelyn 2, Wheat Ridge 2, Ponderosa 1, Vista Peak 1.
Dropped out
Vista Ridge (8), Thomas Jefferson (9), Conifer (10).
Class 3A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
Colorado Springs Christian (8)
3-0
112
1
0-0
2
Colorado Academy (2)
5-4
92
2
2-1
3
Sterling
4-1
83
3
1-0
4
Lutheran
6-2
66
5
0-1
5
DSST-Stapleton (1)
6-0
61
7
1-0
6
Alamosa
5-2
56
6
1-0
7
Faith Christian
3-4
39
4
0-0
8
The Pinnacle
3-1
29
–
0-0
9
Eaton (1)
5-1
23
9
3-0
10
DSST-Green Valley Ranch
4-0
21
–
1-0
Others receiving votes:
Grand Valley 17, Bennett 13, SkyView Academy 12, Strasburg 9, Manual 7, St. Mary’s 6, Arrupe Jesuit 4, Pagosa Springs 4, James Irwin 3, Platte Valley 3.
Dropped out
Bennett (8), Grand Valley (10).
Class 2A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
Sanford (10)
6-0
100
1
1-0
2
Resurrection Christian
7-0
87
2
2-0
3
Ignacio
5-0
81
3
1-0
4
Sedgwick County
6-0
71
4
2-0
5
Meeker
4-0
43
5
1-0
6
Rye
4-2
41
8
3-0
7
Holyoke
3-1
29
7
1-1
8
Paonia
6-1
26
6
2-1
9
Simla
4-0
25
10
1-0
10
Center
4-1
13
–
1-1
Others receiving votes:
Highland 12, Dayspring Christian 10, Burlington 4, Crowley County 4, Haxtun 2, Merino 1, Rocky Ford 1.
Dropped out
Dayspring Christian (9).
Class 1A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
Fleming (6)
4-1
77
1
1-0
2
South Baca (1)
6-0
65
3
1-0
3
Holly
5-2
61
7
3-0
4
Longmont Christian (1)
5-0
53
–
2-0
5
Kit Carson
5-1
46
2
2-1
6
Ouray
5-0
45
4
3-0
7
Arickaree/Woodlin
4-1
29
5
2-0
8
Sierra Grande
5-1
24
6
2-0
9
Front Range Baptist
6-0
17
–
0-0
10
Wiley
4-2
12
8
2-1
Others receiving votes:
Shining Mountain 6, Community Christian 3, Dove Creek 1, Springfield 1, Faith Baptist 1.
PUEBLO — If there is one word that can describe Valor Christian’s 80-75 win over Pueblo Central, “emotional” would have to be it.
The Eagles and Wildcats scrapped and battled for almost 32 hard minutes before an offensive foul on Mike Ranson resulted in frustration setting in for the Wildcats, allowing the Eagles (6-0 overall) to leave Pueblo with the win. But it didn’t come easy as Ranson continued to put up insane scoring numbers.
On his home floor, Ranson knew that he would have to shine if the Wildcats (5-5) were going to have a chance to take down the state’s second-ranked team. He shot the ball early and often and despite his team being down most of the quarter, he was able to even the score at 22-22 after the first quarter.
“I felt like we hung in there pretty well,” Ranson said. “They were beasts on the boards and I felt like we hung with them.”
Ranson scored 10 of his game-high 44 points in the first eight minutes. And the trend would continue.
It was clear that if Valor was going to come away with a big win on the road, they would have to weather Hurricane Ranson.
“We knew he was going to hit some shots,” Valor guard Jeremy Randle said. “We knew we couldn’t let him make four or five shots in a row to get the momentum of the crowd.”
But it wasn’t a shot that would really get Ranson going. He got tangled up with Valor forward Dylan McCaffrey for a rebound and both players fell to the floor. An extra shove from Ranson earned him a technical foul, but that’s when the scoring came alive.
“He’s a football player first, he goes after the ball,” Wildcats coach Brad Ranson said. “You have to reward him for that. That’s maybe a hard foul, not a technical.”
At the end of the first half, not a single Eagle had scored in double figures but they were balanced enough that being down 43-41 at the break wasn’t too big a concern. The Eagles came out in the second with a 7-0 run to take a 48-43 lead.
But once again, Ranson put the Wildcats on his shoulders. He scored another 11 points to keep the game close going into the fourth quarter.
With just over three minutes remaining, the Eagles had built a 74-67 lead thanks in part to a couple of big baskets from Randle, who finished with 14 points.
Overall, the Eagles had six players in double figures with Jalen Sanders leading the charge with 17.
The Wildcats were able to take advantage of an 8-3 run to cut the Valor lead to 77-75 with 15 seconds remaining. Pueblo Central had the ball. There was no doubt that Ranson would get the ball in his hands.
He made a move to the right side of the court, but a slight extension of his arm prompted an offensive foul call. Rangoon’s shot went down, but it wouldn’t count.
Mayhem ensued and a Central coach was ejected, giving the Eagles four free throws, the ball and the win.
“We were playing with so much emotion and it was fun,” Brad Ranson said. “It was unfortunate that it had to come to (an offensive foul call), because that was no push. That was a step-back three in his eye.”
Nonetheless, the Wildcats showed that even without Kobi Betts, who was lost for the year to a torn ACL, they are still capable of playing at a high level.
“Kobi was a huge loss and you can’t replace a guy like that,” Mike Ranson said. “But we’re going to keep fighting.”
The 2015 football players of the year. From left: Dylan Dixon of Eads; Keegan Wentz of Buena Vista; JoJo Domann of Pine Creek; Dylan McCaffrey of Valor Christian; Daniel Martin of Pueblo East; Kelton McCoy of Bayfield; Trey Walter of Sedgwick County. (Photos: Jack Eberhard/JacksActoinShots.com; Bill Cronin; Matt Daniels/MattDanPhoto.com; Kai Casey/CHSAANow.com; Jeff Tucker; and Sedgwick County HS)
The 2015 all-state football teams are presented by CHSAANow.com, ColoradoPreps.com and MaxPreps.
These teams were created following a lengthy process which included nominations from leagues and then a vote of coaches.
Pueblo Central’s Mike Ranson (5), pictured in a game earlier this season. (Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)
Pueblo Central senior Michael Ranson had a game for the ages on Monday night, dropping 59 points, including the game-winning layup in his team’s 90-88 overtime win over Falcon in boys basketball.
“He was on fire … what a display,” Pueblo Central coach Brad Ranson — Michael’s father — told the Pueblo Chieftain. “He was taking good shots and had eight or nine assists as well.”
Ranson was also 19-of-19 from the free-throw line. The 19 attempts and 19 makes are also career highs, and the 19 free-throws made are tied for the 14th-most in a single game.
He also made eight 3-pointers on Monday.
Ranson, who led the entire state in scoring last season with a 25.6 per-game average, has scored more than 35 points in four of the five games he’s played in. He is averaging 40.6 points, which leads the state in all classes this year.
In his career, Ranson is averaging 21.4 points per game. The record for scoring average in a season is 38.8, set by Kim’s Lane Gooden in 1976.
As of last night, Ranson has 1,455 career points. He has a very good change to break into the top-10 in career points should he continue to average above his pace last season.
Arvada West is No. 8 in the 5A boys basketball rankings this week. (Dennis Pleuss)
The No. 1-ranked teams in this week’s CHSAANow.com basketball polls held steady, but a flurry of new teams were added.
With play beginning last week and most teams in action it was only a matter of time before the look and feel of the polls started shifting, specifically in the higher classes. But the top teams of Overland (5A), Longmont (4A), Colorado Springs Christian (3A), Sanford (2A) and Fleming (1A) all held on to the top spots in their respective divisions.
The Class 5A poll saw the addition of two new teams in Arvada West at No. 8 and Rock Canyon at No. 9. The Wildcats started the season on a tear, taking down Smoky Hill, Northglenn and Mountain Range.
Rock Canyon overcame a season-opening loss to Eaglecrest and rattled off three straight wins of their own, good enough to crack this week’s poll.
In 4A, Valor Christian showed they can pose a threat to Longmont as the top seed in the class as they ran out defending champion Air Academy. But the most impressive jump this week came from Pueblo South, which jumped from No. 10 to No. 3 on the strength of a 63-59 win over Lewis-Palmer.
The Rangers only fell one slot thanks to a one-point win over Pueblo Central, which still looks like a good team despite the loss of Kobi Betts for the season.
Mead and Green Mountain are this week’s 4A newcomers, coming in at No. 9 and No. 10, respectively.
It was the 3A poll that look the most different from the preseason rankings. They added four new teams, a staggering number for any week. Bennett, Grand Valley, DSST-Stapleton and Eaton all jump into the top 10 this week.
It was Bennett who made the biggest impact, breaking at No. 5. They topped Lutheran (who jumped one spot this week to No. 7) 49-47 Friday. Grand Valley, DSST-Stapleton and Eaton came in at 8, 9 and 10.
No new teams were added to this week’s 2A rankings, but there was some shuffling that took place.
Rye fell two slots to No. 6 after a 61-57 loss to Alamosa and Sedgwick County jumped three spots from No. 8 to No. 5.
Three new teams jumped into 1A’s top 10 as Sierra Grande (No. 6), Wiley (No. 8) and Shining Mountain (No. 9) all jump into the basketball rankings for the first time this year.
Fleming was the only top seed to actually lose this week as they fell to Holyoke 68-65. Even with the loss, they held on to the top spot in this week’s rankings. Holyoke is ranked No. 4 in 2A.
The rankings, voted upon by coaches and select media members, are the official polls of the Association. During the regular season, they are released each Monday.
Chatfield 14, Boulder 9, Dakota Ridge 9, Abraham Lincoln 6, George Washington 5, Cherry Creek 4, Fort Collins 3, Mountain Vista 3, Rampart 3, Doherty 2, Aurora Central 1, Fossil Ridge 1, FNE Warriors 1.
Dropped out
George Washington (4), Dakota Ridge (10).
Class 4A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
Longmont (16)
1-0
194
1
1-0
2
Valor Christian (2)
2-0
171
2
2-0
3
Pueblo South (2)
4-0
141
10
4-0
4
Lewis-Palmer
3-1
122
3
3-1
5
Sand Creek
2-0
115
6
2-0
6
Pueblo West
3-0
94
9
3-0
7
Golden
2-1
73
5
2-1
8
Pueblo Central
1-3
31
4
1-3
9
Mead
1-1
26
–
1-1
10
Green Mountain
2-0
19
–
2-0
Others receiving votes:
D’Evelyn 16, Holy Family 16, Denver South 14, Windsor 14, Conifer 11, Air Academy 9, Thomas Jefferson 7, Vista Ridge 7, Evergreen 5, Mesa Ridge 3, Mountain View 3, Ponderosa 3, Sierra 2, Centaurus 1, Delta 1, Falcon 1, Rifle 1.
Dropped out
Air Academy (7), Denver South (8).
Class 3A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
Colorado Springs Christian (8)
2-0
130
1
2-0
2
Colorado Academy (4)
1-2
104
2
1-2
3
Faith Christian (2)
1-2
98
3
1-2
4
Sterling
2-0
97
4
2-0
5
Bennett
3-0
53
–
3-0
6
Alamosa
2-1
52
5
2-1
7
Lutheran
3-1
49
8
3-1
8
Grand Valley
2-0
29
–
2-0
9
DSST-Stapleton
3-0
26
–
3-0
10
Eaton
1-0
23
–
1-0
Others receiving votes:
St. Mary’s 20, Monte Vista 15, Jefferson Academy 11, Kent Denver 9, Liberty Common 8, Platte Valley 8, Manitou Springs 7, Bayfield 6, Moffat County 6, Sky View Academy 6, The Pinnacle 5, Buena Vista 3, Pagosa Springs 2, Ridgeview Academy 2, KIPP Collegiate 1.
Dropped out
Kent Denver (6), Jefferson Academy (7), St. Mary’s (9), Brush (10).
Class 2A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
Sanford (10)
2-0
100
1
2-0
2
Ignacio
3-0
83
3
3-0
3
Resurrection Christian
3-0
79
2
3-0
4
Holyoke
1-0
56
5
1-0
5
Sedgwick County
2-0
51
8
2-0
6
Rye
1-1
49
4
1-1
7
Burlington
1-0
39
6
1-0
8
Meeker
0-0
33
7
0-0
9
Paonia
2-0
24
10
2-0
10
Simla
2-0
17
9
2-0
Others receiving votes:
Dayspring Christian 14, Akron 4, Rocky Ford 1.
Dropped out
None.
Class 1A
RK
TEAM
W-L
PTS
PVS
LW
1
Fleming (5)
1-1
75
1
1-1
2
Kit Carson (2)
1-0
67
4
1-0
3
Holly (1)
1-0
64
2
1-0
4
South Baca
2-0
53
5
2-0
5
Ouray
1-0
40
6
1-0
6
Sierra Grande
2-1
35
–
2-1
7
Arickaree/Woodlin
1-1
28
7
1-1
8
Wiley
1-0
24
–
1-0
9
Shining Mountain
1-1
16
–
1-1
10
Heritage Christian
1-1
11
9
1-1
Others receiving votes:
Jim Elliot 9, Sangre De Cristo 6, Longmont Christian 4, Primero 3, Rocky Mountain Lutheran 3, Community Christian 1, Norwood 1.
Dropped out
Sangre De Cristo (3), Norwood (8), Jim Elliot (10).
Lewis-Palmer’s Jonathan Scott hit the game-winning free-throw. More photos. (Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)
MONUMENT — Jonathan Scott has shot thousands of free throws in his lifetime. So when he went to the line with less than a second on the clock and his Lewis-Palmer Rangers tied with Pueblo Central 54-54, he wasn’t worried.
Not even close.
He missed the first, but knocked down the second to give the CHSAANow.com No. 3 Lewis-Palmer a 55-54 win over the No. 4 Wildcats.
“I wasn’t worried about it,” Scott said about missing the first one. “I’ve shot a million free throws a million times so I wasn’t worried at all.”
But there was a point where he, his teammates and the fans packed into the gym at Lewis-Palmer High School had to be worried. Late in the fourth quarter, Lewis-Palmer trailed by as many as four. Pueblo Central’s Michael Ranson seemed like he could hit a behind the back shot from the stands with the way he was shooting.
Lewis-Palmer was in trouble. Especially considering that the Wildcats were without one of their captains. In a scrimmage last Saturday, Kobi Betts tore his meniscus and partially tore his ACL. He will have surgery in two weeks and will miss his senior season.
From the start, it was clear that Pueblo Central missed him.
“It was evident,” Wildcats coach Brad Ranson said. “We have a lot of inexperienced players and it showed late.”
But the one thing that Pueblo Central did have was Brad’s son Michael. Despite a slow start in which he came away with zero points in the first quarter, Ranson exploded in the second half, finishing with 39 points.
With the way his shots were falling, he was becoming a matchup nightmare for the Rangers, especially when Scott went out of the game with foul trouble.
Pueblo Central’s Mike Ranson (5) attempts to pass the ball during a game against Lewis-Palmer. More photos. (Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)
“Johnny’s a great defender,” Rangers guard Kyle Owens said. “But we have a mentality of next man up. With that, we put Joe (DeCoud) on him to try and get Mike different looks.”
When the Wildcats took a 45-43 lead in the fourth quarter Scott, who finished with 24 points, was brought back into the game. He would get to the free throw line and sink both to pull the Rangers to a 50-50 tie.
From there, Ranson and Scott would keep trading free throws. Scott hit two more to tie the game 54-54 with under a minute left. Lewis-Palmer coach Bill Benton called for a zone press, which paid off as the Rangers stole the ball and called timeout with four second left on the clock.
“There’s a part of you that says I wish we had done that a little bit sooner,” Benton said. “Here’s what I love about this group. They came over and said ‘Coach, let’s get in our 35 and stay in that.’ Then they’d talk about the next defense they wanted to go into and I let them do that.”
With four seconds left, Benton drew up an inbound play that would put the ball in the hands of either Scott or Owens. Whoever got it would then attack the basket and try to get fouled. The ball fell into Scott’s hands and that’s exactly what he did.
He got fouled with 0.5 seconds left on the clock and made a free throw to put his team ahead for good.
“We knew it was going to be tough with first game jitters,” Benton said. “We have to figure out our system and what works. I’m much happier to learning from a win, though, rather than a loss.”
CSCS players get instructions from coach Mark Engesser (right) during practice. (Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)
COLORADO SPRINGS — Colorado Springs Christian School basketball coach Mark Engesser hates losing. Can’t stand it. His desire to win coupled with his players’ hard work and motivation helped the Lions come away with the Class 3A state championship last March.
And oh boy, do they want to get back to the top of that mountain.
It helps that the Lions are returning two all-state players in forward Sam Howard and guard Justin Engesser. It also helps that those two guys were also two of the primary catalysts of last year’s title team. This year, they take the court with not only the hope of winning another championship, but with the pressure of trying to repeat.
“I wouldn’t necessarily say pressure,” Howard said. “We always want to do our best and no matter what people expect of us, we want to do what we think we can do. We’re just going to focus on playing our best and staying humble and whatever happens, we’re okay with.”
Staying humble may be the key. In the first month and a half of last season, the Lions were barely tested. It looked like they were going to cruise through their regular season schedule without a blemish.
But then something unexpected happened. On Jan. 23, the Lions hosted Tri-Peaks rival St. Mary’s and things did not go as planned. The Pirates kept the game close and were able to come away with a 51-49 win, ending CSCS’s chance at a perfect season.
“Nobody wants to lose,” Justin Engesser said. “If we learn from that, I guess, mistake; it’s better that we learn it early in the season rather than in the state tournament.”
That loss to St. Mary’s set the tone for the remainder of the season. It was a great reminder that nothing is given and for the Lions to reach the level that they wanted, they would have to continue to get better through the course of the season.
Sam Howard (33) and Justin Engesser watch as Howard’s shot falls during practice. (Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)
“When you’re winning all of your games, (Coach Engesser) has no reason to yell at us,” Howard said. “When you lose, it really gets your attention. There’s a lot of stuff you can work on. We looked at the film of that game and that’s what really carried us. We saw where we were weak.”
And they improved those weaknesses.
Like in any classification, there’s no ease to getting through a state tournament. Schools such as Jefferson Academy, Colorado Academy and Kent Denver routinely play for state titles. There are also programs like Faith Christian that have the ability to rattle off multiple state championships in a row.
“I thought we played harder than some of those teams,” Coach Engesser said. “We were diving on the floor, taking charges, playing harder. If you play hard on every single possession, good things will happen.”
And they did happen. When it was all said and done, the Lions came away as champions. Now as CSCS comes into the 2015-16 season with the expectations of winning another title, it’s also feeling a little bit of that pressure to defend that title.
But which comes more into play, the pressure or the expectation?
“I think the expectation,” Coach Engesser said. “It was a great moment for those guys and they want to experience that again. Expecting that moment… I guess it puts pressure on you too. I’ll say both. Pressure and expectation.”
